Six companies are vying for the contract to finish demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building, allaying fears that no company would want to touch the seemingly cursed project, The Post has learned.
Among the bidders is Gramercy Wrecking and Environmental, a Westbury, L.I., company that’s been doing repairs on the problem-plagued tower since an Aug. 18 inferno there killed two firefighters.
Other likely bidders, sources say, include LVI Environmental, which had previously bid on the project, and a joint venture between Pinnacle Environmental and P.A.L. Environmental Safety, which is demolishing nearby Fiterman Hall. The Massachusetts-based Testa Corp. is also in the running.
On Aug. 21, Mayor Bloomberg said, “When we went out for contractors to perform this work, there was only one willing to take [it] on.”
Actually, 14 firms had expressed interest in the project to the general contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, in early 2006. But 13 dropped out or were rejected, leaving the relatively inexperienced John Galt Corp. with the $60 million job.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the site, wants to resume demolition next month.